Towers of Midnight/Chapter 32
Summary : Rodel Ituralde has ordered his men to gather in small groups, then hide until some Trollocs come close, and strike unexpected at the Trollocs, with cavelry and bowman. After they've done this for a few hours, Ituralde's army of two hundred bowman has only fifty left. Ituralde has Antail create a gateway which the remaining Asha'man crawl through. He and his men hear footsteps. Hundreds. Ituralde signs for plan six - hide until the army has gone away. Then one of his men notices there are no hoofbeats. When Ituralde goes outside the building to have a look, it turns out the Dragon has finally sent help. Instead of yelling, the men sit on the ground, exhausted. Ituralde sees sunlight again. Some time later, he is together with Davram Bashere in Vram Torkumen's home. The city is cleansed, but Ituralde and Bashere know the Trollocs will attack again when the night falls. :Ituralde says :A voice says from behind Ituralde turns, and sees Rand al'Thor has changed, and he notices wisdom in his eyes. While talking on, a soldier at the window suddenly exclaims: "By the Light and my hope for rebirth!" Not the kind of oath one hears every day. Curious they look through the window, and see an army of Trollocs, many times larger than the army that assaulted Maradon. Ituralde and Bashere say the city is lost, but Rand doesn't want to hear that. After Bashere says "I thought he wasn't going to do this kind of thing anymore," Rand goes to the field between Maradon and the hill, together with two Maidens. And then he began to channel. The first things were giant waves of fire, far larger than the Asha'man used. Draghkar who wanted to reach Rand were all hit by shards of ice. Then Rand also made Deathgates, and after it, also lightning struck the Trollocs. Tornadoes rage between the Trollocs, followed by fountains of flesh and fire. Ituralde hears a scream, but doesn't look away from the window. Naeff, who also watches the storm of light, cannot track all the weaves created at once. Then the Trollocs flee. Rand goes on for some more seconds, and then stops. For Ituralde, it seems like seconds, but at least an hour has passed. They go to look where the scream came from, and find Torkumen in his chamber, eyes cut out, mumbling of a "terrible light" and army "the Great Lord had promised." When Bashere looks down from the window, he sees that Lady Torkumen jumped down, and now they know Torkumen was a Darkfriend. : Min Farshaw is in the Stone of Tear when Rand goes to Maradon. She can feel his anger through the Bond. She studies some more verses on Callandor. : Rand stumbles back exhausted. Ifeyina believes that Rand gained much ji after his recent victory. All the men from Maradon come through gateway looking bloody and covered in soot. Bashere and Ituralde enter the room, Ituralde in particular looking very much worse for wear. Rand tells Min that he was roused to terrible anger watching the Dark One trying to break the spirit of the men defending Maradon. Rand could not allow that and so stepped in to save the city. Rand is wary of his confrontation with the Dark One happening to early as it must happen at Shayol Ghul. If Rand's enemies should come now, they could easily kill him. Rand plans to meet with the Borderlands army in Far Madding, to find out what they want. Min tells Rand that Cadsuane Melaidhrin has returned, and she has someone with her. Rand asks her how her studies are going. Min confirms that Rand will need to be in a circle with two other women when he uses Callandor, however, the flaw within Callandor suggests that once this happens Rand will be wide open to attack. Rand goes to meet with Cadsuane and asks Ituralde to go with him. Once they reach her room, Ituralde gasps at who Cadsuane has in her room. It turns out to be the King of Arad Doman, Alsalam Saeed Almadar. Ituralde rushes in and drops to his knees weeping at the feet of his liege lord. Rand tells Min that a friend left him a secret confirming that Mattin Stepaneos den Balgar had but taken for "safe-keeping" by the White Tower. His guess is that Alsalam had also been taken, but the knowledge of Travelling had not yet reached the Aes Sedai escorting him, and the snows had slowed their progress down. Rand is pleased that the monarch was not one of those he Balefired in Graendals fortress. Characters *Rodel Ituralde *Davram Bashere *Naeff *Malain Saldaen cavalry *Rand al'Thor *Vram Torkumen *Vogeler Saldaean soldier *Min Farshaw *Evasni Maiden *Ifeyina Maiden *Damer Flinn *Cadsuane Melaidhrin *Merise Haindehl *Alsalam Saeed Almadar as king Referenced *Antail Asha'man *Yoeli *Tenobia si Bashere Kazadi as Queen *Rajabi *Ankaer *Rossin Domani soldier *Wakeda *Lady Torkumen *Mattin Stepaneos den Balgar *Graendal Places *Maradon in Saldaea *Stone of Tear Referenced *Arad Doman *Blight *Shayol Ghul Items Referenced *''Callandor''